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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

BBOG Group Blasts President Buhari's Daughter for Raising ₦3.5million ‘With Its Brand Name’

The BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group has expressed shock at
the use of its brand name at a fundraising by Hadiza Buhari-Bello, President
Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter.

At the event, which was held on Monday, the Peace Corps of Nigeria donated
N3.5m to Africa Support and Empowerment Initiative, a non-governmental
organisation owned by Buhari-Bello as part of an endowment fund for the Chibok
girls.

“Bringbackourgirls” was inscribed boldly on the backdrop of the event.

But the advocacy group led by Oby Ezekwesili has disassociated itself from the
event, promising to issue a response through its lawyer, Femi Falana.

In a statement signed by Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu, the group said the
organisers of the event were trying to smear its hard-earned name.

The BBOG group emphasised that it was a self-funded movement, and not a
money-making NGO.
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“Following repeated enquiries from the media, we stumbled upon information of
an event tagged ‘Official Inauguration and Signing of Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on the Chibok Girls Endowment Project’ organised by the
‘Peace Corps of Nigeria’ and ‘Africa Support and Empowerment Initiative,’ with
Hadiza Buhari-Bello,” the statement read.

“We are shocked, perplexed and completely dumbfounded to see the bold
inscription of our hard-earned name, #BringBackOurGirls, on the event’s
backdrop. We state categorically that we are not party to the said event and
have absolutely no information of its origin. We urge the general public to
disregard attempts at linking our movement to this highly suspicious event.

“After 902 days of painstaking advocacy, it is disheartening and unfortunate to
suddenly see attempts, by external actors, to use it for selfish purposes. We
have carefully built our reputation as a well-organised and disciplined global
movement that is completely self-funded.

“The deliberate decision, to remain funded by sacrificial contributions of
members for our very negligible needs, is the reason we are solely a Citizens’
Movement, and not an NGO. It will be highly injurious to allow it be dragged in
the mud at this point. We therefore demand an immediate retraction and
unreserved apology from the organisers.

“Together with our lawyers, Femi Falana & Co., we are considering a
response to this attempt to smear our movement. We call on the general public
and law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for unscrupulous persons who
may already be/are planning similar nefarious acts to deceive the local and
international community.”‎

Speaking with TheCable, Onwuka Don Uche, national secretary of the NGO, said he
tried to reach members of the BBOG group but failed at every turn.

“I tried to contact members of the group, but I couldn’t reach any of them,” he
said.

“I dropped a message for Oby Ezekwesili on Twitter, but there was no response.
We will reach out to group. It is purely a fund for the Chibok girls, and we
want to make BBOG a signatory to the account.”